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Curators Lesley Harding (left) and Kendrah Morgan at the Heide Museum. They have both written a new book<i>Modern Love</i>on Heide founders John and Sunday Reed. — Curators Lesley Harding (left) and Kendrah Morgan at the Heide Museum. They have both written a new bookModern Love on Heide founders John and Sunday Reed.Credit:Eddie Jim

And when Sunday and Nolan were together during that period,it is revealed,they took other lovers on and off. Political journalist Michael Keon was one of them,finding himself embroiled with the Reeds as a"stand-in"for Nolan,as the famous painter of the Ned Kelly series prevaricated over whether to leave his wife for Sunday.

Modern Love also explores how John enabled Sunday's affairs and to an extent participated in them as a voyeur.

A day at Point Lonsdale in the 1940s:(from left) Joy Hester,Sidney Nolan holding Sweeney Reed,John Reed and Sunday Reed.Credit:State Library of Victoria

The book,to be released next week and written by Heide Museum of Modern Art curators Lesley Harding and Kendrah Morgan,reveals brief sexual liaisons between Sunday and painter Joy Hester,and between Nolan and poet Barrett Reid.

Sexual intrigues aside,Modern Love's main focus is a re-assessment of the Reeds'extraordinarily significant cultural contributions in Australia,and their unwavering commitment to supporting young artists.

The new research is likely to change perspectives on the Reeds,who have long been admired for the artistic milieu they established at their Heidelberg property on the banks of the Yarra,between the 1930s and their deaths in 1981,and its contribution to the development of modern art in Australia.

The authors said they had many moments when they would look at each other and say"We didn't see that one coming",or"That's stranger than fiction,"but they felt a responsibility to write it in the interests of truth.

Christmas at Heide,Templestowe,Melbourne,in 1946. From left:Sidney Nolan,Sunday Reed,John Sinclair and John Reed.Credit:Albert Tucker

"We realise there are things in this book that are going to make some people feel uncomfortable because it is bringing up memories they might not want to return to,"Ms Harding said.

Their groundbreaking research included the use of taped interviews that had been"sitting unheard in an attic since the 1980s",plus material the authors gleaned from their rare access to a variety of papers and letters from other sources.

John Reed,Sidney Nolan and Sunday Reed at Heide.

The curators were also entrusted with personal information by friends of the Reeds. They did about 40 interviews and things"kept falling into our laps,"they said.

"It was more of a bohemian lifestyle than we had anticipated,more experimental,"Ms Morgan said of the Heide story.

"More of a bohemian lifestyle than we had anticipated":John and Sunday Reed on their wedding day in 1932.Credit:Courtesy of Sarah McKay

She said that because she and Ms Harding are both curators at Heide,part of their job has been to protect the Reeds'reputation and legacy."But enough time has elapsed,we are of a different generation. In that respect,it has made it easier for us:we can be objective and we don't have the emotional links that a lot of the original stakeholders did."

The book's new material includes photos of the Reeds and details of their early histories,including how they met. Among many extraordinary new stories,Modern Love helps explain the circumstances preceding the suicide of Sweeney Reed,the son of Hester and (nominally) Albert Tucker,who was adopted by the Reeds when Hester found out she was dying of Hodgkins lymphoma.

<i>Modern Love:The Lives of John&Sunday Reed</i>explores how John enabled Sunday's affairs. — *Modern Love:The Lives of John& Sunday Reed* explores how John enabled Sunday's affairs.

Modern Love:The Lives of John&Sunday Reed (Miegunyah Press,RRP $45) will be in stores on 26 September. The accompanying exhibition at Heide Museum of Modern Art opens today.heide.com.au

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